How did this happen?

So how does a boring, stay-at-home mom of two become a blogger?  A hare-brained idea, that's how. 

A couple of years ago, I decided that the year of a certain "big" birthday I should tackle some sort of endurance event.  The first few years of motherhood proved to be crazy, and I have to admit, my own fitness needs fell by the wayside.  Well, now the kids are both in school and I have some time to myself.  Back to that endurance event.  Hmmm...well, originally I had thought "marathon"--that's the cool thing to do at the moment.  Run.  Walk.  Run/walk.  Plenty of clubs, coaches, training groups.  Right.  Then the old bod' threw me a loop.

First a nagging pain in my hip, only now and then--nothing to worry about.  Over the course of a year and a half, that nagging pain turned into osteonecrosis of the femoral head, complete with flattening of the head and the beginnings of collapse.  Ouch.  Some mornings, the pain was so intense I couldn't put on my own shoes.  Exercise was pretty much out of the question as even swimming flared my hip up for several days.

So...the year I turned 40, I received a new hip instead of an endurance event.  Not quite what I had planned.  Well, 10 months have passed since my Birmingham Resurfacing, and I am on the move again.

Enter Team In Training.  I received a flyer in the mail from the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.  Some of you may remember that I completed an Olympic length triathlon a few years ago (quite a few years ago) with the help of the coaches from TNT.  Triathlon is out this time.  Marathon is out as well.  I need that hip to last as long as possible, and repetitive high-impact sport is not going to maximize the life of the hardware.  Looks like it's cycling time.